Title: Background Knowledge CAT

Author: Kate Deibel

Date: March 29, 2004

Technique: Background Knowledge Probe

Before Class Preparation Time: MEDIUM

Class Completion Time: LOW

In-Class Analysis Time: MEDIUM

Out-Of-Class Analysis Time: MEDIUM

Assessment Goals:
Topics:
Purpose: This survey provides a picture of students' prior experience with computers and programming.
Activity:

Please answer each question with a number a rating on how much expereince you have had with the topic. Use the scale 1 to 5 where 1 means "No experience" and 5 means "Lots of Experience."

1. Writing papers or presentations on a computer 1 2 3 4 5
2. Installing programs on a computer 1 2 3 4 5
3. Playing games on a computer 1 2 3 4 5
4. Using Windows 1 2 3 4 5
5. Using an Apple or Macintosh computer 1 2 3 4 5
6. Using a Linux or Unix computer 1 2 3 4 5
7. Programming in C 1 2 3 4 5
8. Programming in C++ 1 2 3 4 5
9. Programming in Java 1 2 3 4 5
10. Surfing the Internet 1 2 3 4 5
11. Using e-mail and instant messaging 1 2 3 4 5
12. Helping someone use a computer 1 2 3 4 5
13. Designing a web page 1 2 3 4 5
14. Setting up a new computer 1 2 3 4 5

Solution:

Not applicable


Instructor Responses: Response Analysis:

The answers should be counted and tallied. To present these results, look at the distribution of answers across all the choices in order to identify common trends.

These results can hint at the background of the students, but it is dangerous to overgeneralize from them. Self-reporting biases could have people overrate or underrate themselves.



Variant Uses of Activity:
Device-Enabled: Has Been Enabled

Related Topics: